


Tribute

by BessieBlackbird



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Moana (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Blood, Drama, Drama & Romance, EXCITING, F/M, Gen, Gore, Heart rate, Maybe some gore, Monsters, Psychological Drama, Pulse - Freeform, Romance, Suspense, bone, dun - Freeform, dunnnnnnnn, maybe some death, mystery fun, running wild
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-28
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-06 08:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12207624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BessieBlackbird/pseuds/BessieBlackbird
Summary: They would have paid it... if only they had known. Can Maui save them? Is there enough time? [ONGOING]





	Tribute

Silence. 

It was an eery quiet, the kind that follows chaos and what it brings. No bird sang. No breeze rustled the leaves in the grove or the bananas hanging from the trees. Only a groan of pain drifted into Moana’s disbelieving ears. 

The entire, terrible morning was a blur in her mind. Had it really happened? 

Maybe it was all a dream and she was still asleep in the sand. Yeah, that’s it. Maui was still snoring in between stomach rumbles, stretched out like a starfish right next to her. She was going to wake up happy and warm. 

Then she’d wander into camp and join her parents for breakfast. 

No. 

She’d never had dreams like this. No nightmare could do damage like this without scales and teeth and claws. 

Motunui had never seen war. It had never seen plague or famine and it had certainly never seen anything like this. Now it seemed as if the last thousand years of tranquility had all been paid back at once, repaid in the shape of a beast with scales and teeth and claws. 

It had come quietly from a cave at the back of the island the village had yet to explore. There was no moon to light its way, but this was for the better. The inky night swallowed up it's black scales. Great ropes of saliva hung from it’s dreadful maw where a long, slithering tongue flicked out to taste the air. Hunting. 

It scuttled over the sleeping camp without a sound. 

This secret beast found what it sought that night, in the camp at the head of the clearing, in the quiet beside the coconut grove- the chief who had so foolishly neglected to offer the proper tribute to one so worthy, and yet slept so soundly. For five days, it had waited quite patiently in the cool pond it ruled over. Then, it could wait no longer and decided to go out and take for itself. 

Moana stood before her entire world and saw it cracked right down the center for the first time. Her mother lay far too still. Each shallow breath pulled her closer. The bandage she saw did not quite hide the blackened bite festering there.

This was all her fault. She had brought her people to this awful place and now her mother was paying the ultimate price. 

What had she done?

——

Maui had followed her into the village and was taking it all in. It was a lot to absorb and his stomach was in one dreadful knot. Just like that, the lily-white bubble where yesterday lived had burst. He knew that bite- it was unmistakable. But he had no idea that thing had been here, or for how long. 

A hand on his arm startled him and he looked at Tui’s expression of stone. It looked too much like his daughter’s. He pulled the Demi-God away and did not mince words. 

“Why did you let this happen?” he asked quietly. 

Maui’s jaw dropped, “Me?”

Tui’s tone remained firm, “You are the one that sent us straight to it.” 

The accused was... flabbergasted and more wounded than he’d care to say. He opened his mouth to speak, to defend himself, but nothing came out. His tone had left no room for any argument. 

The chief went on in that same somber tone, bowing his head as he spoke, obviously trying to keep his grief and anger in check. Even so, a tear gathered at the corners of his eyes, “You will not take both of them from me... Take your hook and that blasted canoe- Leave us.”

Maui turned to look at the ‘her’ in question. His dearest friend. She was bent over her mother with a cool, wet rag in her trembling hand. His heart was wrenched when a whimper escaped her tight face as she pressed their foreheads together, wallowing in hopelessness. He had never seen her look so small. 

When she turned her eyes to him, he couldn’t read them. Did she blame him too? 

The awful, bitter cocktail of emotions filling up his heart was enough to kill a mortal man. Anger and horrified sadness were vying for first place in that horserace and now, thanks to Tui, guilt was coming in at a close second. He took a step back from the chief. From them. From her. 

Without another word, he stormed off and headed for the blessed beach, ignoring the way no one in the entire camp would meet his eyes along the way. He could feel them laying all of the blame at his feet- feet that shook the ground as he fled the scene in shame, sadness, and disbelief, nostrils flaring- his face a deep red. 

Maui yanked his hook from the ground where he’d left it at the edge of the trees, on the outskirts of their makeshift village, and vanished into the shadows without looking back. 

He marched ahead, not really seeing what was in front of him, letting the stray, overgrown branches rake across his unprotected chest and face. Before he knew it, he was jerking himself to a halt at the waters edge. 

Tui was right. He knew it and it pissed him off- A demi-god like him could only bring more of this on her and she was only human. They all were.

He squinted against the watery reflection of the sun. 

A deep breath filled him up and he paused for a long moment, listening to each wave. The bright, hectic color began to fade from his face and neck. 

Another breath. Another moment. 

He raised his hook high above his head, ready to fly. He'd find more islands to pull out of the sea, more monsters to fight and would never return to the people of Motunui. He'd never see her again. He turned it over in his hand. A blue, magical glow filled the intricate carvings. 

It made a thud when it dropped to the ground again and he looked back toward the island with a ferocity that would have stilled TeKa’s formidable rage. 

Without wasting another second, he brandished the hook with an impressive flash and an unassuming beetle began to fly with purpose toward the trees, headed for a cave at the back of the island the village had yet to explore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying for a suspense! What will happen?? Who knows? I don't! 
> 
> Stay tuned!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading.


End file.
